Fuel-feeding device.



W. McCLAVE.

FUEL FEEDING DEVICE.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1913. I 1,93%;611 2., PatentedSept. 11, 1917.

3SHEETS-SHEET I,

W. McCLAVE.

FUEL FEEDING DEVICE. APPLICATION man 1uu27. 1913.

. Patented sept. 11, 191?.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. McCLAVE.

FUEL FEEDING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1913.

Patented MW. 11, 1917.

3 SHE ETSSHEET 3.

pnirn smarts learner orurrn.

WILLIAM MCCLAVE, 0F SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 McCLAVE-BROOKS COMPANY, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FUEL-FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. i1, 191%.

Application filed June 27, 1913. Serial No. 776,123.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLiAM MCCLAVE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fuel-Feeding Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

. bituminous slack, etc, which are not easily consumed with economy in furnaces of ordinary construction. The invention has for its objects to provide a furnace in which the fuel may be automatically fed to the grate or firebox in such manner as to insure the complete combustion of the combustible elements therein without the production of objectionable smoke in the waste gases. To these ends it contemplates a construction in which the fuel will be initially supplied to a hopper or hoppers located at'the upper 7 single plane.

end of an inclined grate, which grate extends downwardly and inwardly into the combustion chamber, preferably with its fuel supporting surfaces in substantially a The fuel is advanced down over the inclined grate by a pusher or pushers operating below the mouth of the hopper. in' a plane which is parallel with and immediately above the grate, whereby the fuel will be advanced in a sheet or body of substantially uniform depth or thickness. In connection with this arrangementof the parts, provision is made, whereby a rousingbar may be introduced in the plane of the V pusher or in the plane of the lower portion orstratum of fuel resting on the grate for slightly lifting or distributing the lower portion of the fuel to facilitate the passage of air into and through the same, without,

however, breaking up the fuel to such an extent that a rush of air will result and cause the production of smoke. In this connection it may be here noted that it is the generally accepted theory that the chief cause of smoke is due to the fact that hydrogen has a greater ailinity for oxygen than has the carbon. The initial heating of the fuel results in the distillation of a large quantity of hydrogen which appropriates the major portion of the incoming oxygen, leaving an insuflicient supply for the car bon. The intense heat of the burning hydrogen sets free quantities of carbon in an exceedingly comminuted condition and this carbon is carried off without being chemically combined with oxygen. The waste products pass into the discharge fines and are cooled down to a point at which water vapor results from the hydrogen com bination, and this water vapor becomes thoroughly impregnated with the carbon particles which at that temperature assume their natural black color. A very small quantity of carbon is sufficient to densely color a very large quantity of water vapor and the result is the emission of quantities ofblack smoke. From this it is apparent that to. prevent the production of smoke, the constant breaking up of the fuel should be avoided as much as possible; fresh fuel should be introduced or fed to the furnace with as little disturbance as possible and moved along en masse at a substantially uniform rate; and at the same time a sufficient supply of preheated air should be introduced at such point or points as is necessary to supply oxygen for combining with the carbon elements set free by the distillation and combustion process.

In addition to the mechanism heretofore referred to as a part of the structure of the furnace of the present invention, the invention contemplates a novel arrangement for supplying preheated air above the fuel in regulated quantities to accord with the requirements existing at any particular and the body of fuel lifted slightly by the rousing-bar to augment the admission of air through the grate. ployed also embodies means whereby the fuel feeding devices may be adjusted for any desired rate 'of feed or instantly disconnected to arrest the feed and for permit ting of the quick introduction of a hoe or other implement for breaking up and discharging the whole body of fuel in an emergency, without permitting additional fuel to be fed down from the hopper.

The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts and in the detail construction of the elements which will be hereinafter described and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a section in a vertical plane from front to rear, of a furnace embodying the present improvements, certain of the well understood parts being indicated more or less diagrammatically, or shown in outline. r v

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the structure shown in Fig. l, and designed as thefurnace for one boiler of a battery of boilers Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the fuel pushers with its inclosing chamber in section;

ing tool or handle.

Fig. 5 is a front and Fig. 6 an end elevation of one of the furnace shafts showing,

the operating connections for the power shaft and pusher together with the means for disconnecting the parts when it is desired to arrest the movement ofv thepusher and for adjusting the throw of the pusher to regulate the quantity of fuel fed to, the furnace.

' Figs. 7 and 8 are, respectively, a side and edge view of the pusher arm.

. Figs. 9 and 10 are similar views of the power transmitting arm.

" Fig. 11 is a bottom edge view of the power transmitting arm.

7 Figs. 12, 18 and 14; are details of the ends of the furnace shaft and washer for retaining the shaft in place and the operating arms thereon.

Figs. 15 and 16 are plan and side views, respectively, of the connecting rod between the power and furnace shafts.

Fig. 17 is a secti'onon the line AA of Fig. 16; and

Fig. 1.8 is a section on the line BB of Fig. 16, omitting the connecting rod, I Likelettcrs of reference in the several figuresi ndicate the same parts.

:"The furnace adopted for illustrating the present invention is of the projecting fur Iiace type, that is to say, the main 'combus The structure ems Fig. at is a detail of a pusher gate operattion chamber is located in front of a wall C, which wall is in substantially the vertical plane of the front of the boiler shown diagrammatically in Fig. l. The top of the combustion chamber or fire boX is formed by an arch D having small openings d therethrough for the entry. of preheated air which air is admitted through a preheating V vention is concerned, it is of such character that the fuel will be supported on a surface which is substantially in a single plane inclined at an angle slightly I less than the angle of rest of the fuel, feet down over it from the upper end. Formed as a continuation of the upper end of the grate and with its surface in substantially the same plane as the fuel supportmg surface of the grate, is

' a dead plate F, upon which there is mounted a reciprocatory pusher Gr, two of said pushers belng preferably employed for the furnace of each boiler, although in a narrow furnace a single pusher will be sufficient. Theij ushers are housed in and operate through the'lower edges of chambers having top plates H, Fig. 1, andside and front walls H, Fig. 3. The advance fuel which is de-. posited on the dead plate in front of them from a hopper or hoppers located above, and, as shown in F igsl'l, 2 and 3, formed by end andpartition walls I, I, respectively, aninclined 'front l anda vertical furnace wall'l The latter forms thefrontof the air preheating chamber D and extends down in rear of the hoppers withpassages d therethrough for the admission of preheated air to, the fuel which is advanced by the pushers into the distilling and combustion areas of the grate." ln'order that the plates I may be properly protected from the heat of the combustion chambena row of relatively large firebrick D is located on the inner side of and preferably supported by said plates at the front end of the arch D, as will'be readily understood spection, of Fig. 1.

The inclined wall. I of the hopper terminates at a point some distance above the top H of the pusher chambers, leaving a relatively large opening through which a hoe or similarimplement may be introduced for the purpose of pushing the fuel; down the inclined grate and onto a dumping section at the bottom thereof, should an emergency requi'reithc drawing of the'fires or the completeemptying of the fuel into the ashpit. Under such circumstances, it is. of course, desirable that no additionalffu'el should, be

from an inpermitted to flow into the combustion chamber, and for this purpose a curved gate K is pivotally mounted at the lower edge of the inclined wall I in position to swing down and form a continuation of the wall leading to the forward edge of the pusher chambers, as shown in F 1, but adapted to be swung up to the position shown in'dotted lines, when a hoe or'other implement is to be introduced for the purpose stated. Theswing ing gate will carry up with it any fuel lying upon it, and will effectually close the hopper against the escape of additional fuel during the operation of drawing the fire. The opening below the lower edge of the plate I may also be utilized for theintroduction of implements for distributing the fuel on the grate should the samefor any cause become banked or unevenly distributed, although thisis a condition which is not likelyto occur with the present apparatus;

Each pusher is directly operated by two links orconnecting rods L which pass out of the pusher chamber through openings best seen in Fig. 3 at the ends of the pusher. At their outer ends the rods or links are piv otally connected with pusher arms L shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8, and in assembled relation in Figs. 5 and 6. The pusher arms L for each pusherare keyed on a furnace shaft M j ournaled in brackets on the extension front plate N of the furnace. Journaled on one end of each furnace shaft M is a bell crank operating member,one arm 0 of which is adapted to be connected by a link P to be presently described, with an eccentrio strap, surrounding an eccentric'on a power shaft Q journaled in suitable brackets.

on the upper portion of the furnace and rotated continuously from any suitable source.

to be connected therewith by a headed pin or bolt 0 which serves as a ready means whereby the parts may be instantly disconnected should the necessity arise for quickly arresting the feed movements of the pusher.

The link P before referred to is at its lower end provided with a slot or elongated opening 3) in which the crank pin 0 of the arm 0 is adapted to operate, an adjustable block being mounted in said slot whereby the play of the pin in the slot maybe regulated to vary the movement imparted to the pusher while the link itself makes a uniform movement. The adjustable block re ferred to is best seen in Figs. 6 and 15 to 18, inclusive, from which figures it will be seen that the block 10 is mounted to-slide in the opening 79 and is confined therein by side plates 27 united by a transverse bolt 79 and having journaled between their projecting edges a cam lock 19 adapted to be turned in one direction or the other for releasing or clamping the block in its adjusted position. Graduations p on the link serve as a ready means for accurately determining the osi-. tion of the block, thus permitting all of the pushers to be adjusted for handling fuel of any given grade.

From Figs 2, 5 and (3 it will be seen that the pins connecting the links L and P with their respective arms L and 0 both project in the same plane transversely of the furnace shaft; or, 1n other words, the pins are reversely arranged with relation to each ed throu h the oaenin 's before referred to b to or to be presently described.

To provide for the insertion and manipulation of the rousing-bar referred to in "the preamble, in such wise that the fuel may be lifted sufficiently to permit of the entry of the proper air supply without breaking up the fire-bedto an injurious legree, rousorbaropenings are provided which are in the plane of operation of the pusher. In other words, theopenings are in a plane immediately adjacent to and above the fuel supporting surface of the grate, the principal openings being preferably provided in the pushers themselves, although as will presentlyappear, other openings are provided in the form of peek openings at ea ch side of the furnace through which the rouser bars may be introduced.

By reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the pusher G is provided in its front or operative face with a central opening adapted to be normally closed by a gate G pivotally mounted in the pusher at g and adapted to be swung from the position shown in full lines to that shown in dotted lines, when it is desired to introduce a rousing-bar. Normally the gate is held in its closed position by a locking bolt 9 pivotally connected with an operating handle all located in the interior of the pusher and operating within the pusher chamber. Access to these parts is obtained through an outer opening normally closed by a swinging door G in the outer wall H of the pusher chamber, the proportions of the parts being such that a rousing-bar introduced through the openings may bemoved from side to side over practically the whole of the grate area; for eX- The links I. extend.

ample, to include the angles of the straight dotted lines 9*. The handle g may be moved to release the locking bolt by an operating tool G, Fig. l, and the same too-l may be employed for opening the gate G, thus avoiding any necessity of the attendant reaching into the pusher chamber or being injured by the heated walls.

As will be seen from Fig. 1, the door G normally occupies a position at such an angle with respect to its hinges that it will remain in either closed or open position by gravity, thus avoiding the necessity of employing fastening means of any character.

In. addition to the openings through the pushers, peek openings are formed in the front walls of the furnace at the outer ends of the hoppers in a plane which is coincident with the plane of movement of the pushers, or in other words, immediately above the plane of the fuel supporting surface of the grate. These openings are best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, where they are indicated by the reference character G the doors or slides for closing the openings being indicated by G Below the mechanism hereinbefore described, the front wall of the furnace is provided with the usual ash pit doors S. The handles for operating the rear or dumping sections of the grate extend through the said front wall preferably at each side, as, indi cated at T, but it will be understood that these portions of the furnace may be of any usual or ordinary construction as they form no part of the present invention, and the same is true of the mechanism for handling the ashes from the ash pit and for conducting and utilizing the combustible gases or products of combustion passing through the wall G into the secondary combustion chamher, and thence to'or through the boiler flues. Reference has heretofore been made to the fact that the preheated air admitted at the point where the fresh fuel is entering the distillation area should be regulated for the purpose, of preventing the formation of objectionable smoke, and in the present construction, while the major regulation may be effected through the manipulation of the air forcingmeans, supplying air to the preheating chamber, the specific regulation of the openings at the point referred to is effected by a valve located above each pusher and indicated in Fig. 1 at V. Said valve is movable vertically through the medium of rods V pivotally connected at their upper end to arms V on rockshafts V j ournaled at the front of the furnace and having forwardly projecting arms V to the outer ends of which there are pivotally connected downwardly extending operating rods V passing through bearings V on the front edges of the hoppers and by which they may be clamped in adjusted position.

' In operation, the fuel supplied through the hoppers passes down onto the dead plates and is advanced by the pushers down over the fuel supporting surface of the grate.-

The progress of the fuel over the. grate is regulated by the range of movement imparted to the pushers,the design being to effectually consume all of the combustible elements before any of the material "is allowed to escape or is dumped into the ash pit.-, The fuel ismaintained in a substan tially unbroken sheet or bed except insofar as'it may be slightly broken up when neces sary by the introduction of the rousing-bar,

which bar, however, operates solely in the lower stratum of the fuel, or in the ash stratumimmediately ad jacentthe grate surface. The openings for the introduction of the rousing bar are of small size, thus avoiding the entry of any great volume of cold air and it will be particularly noted that 'any such air as may be permitted to enter must be drawn through the mass of fuelwhich completely covers and envelops the rousing bar. For the introduction of'the rousing bar it is unnecessary to close off thejhop'pers, the latter function beingperformed by. the curved gates at the bottom of the hoppers only when it is desired to introduce large implements (a hoe for example) for the purpose of leveling off the bed of fuel and more especially for the purpose of pushing the entire body of fuel offof. the grate-in an emergency requirmg thls action.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent of the United States, is:'

1. In a furnace, a reciprocating pusher associated therewith, means-for actuating said pusher consisting of a drive shaft, an

eccentric thereon, a link carried by said eccentric, a furnace shaft connected to the link, means for instantly arresting the rec procation of the pusher located between the; fur

nace shaft andthe drive shaft, comprising a block'mounted in a slot 1n said link, side plates rigidly attached to said block, and a cam lock located between the side plates adapted-to lock the block against said link.

2. In a fuel feeding device, a pusher, means'for actuating same, consisting of a power shaft, a furnace shaft, an arm on said furnace shaft, a link driven from the power naled on said power shaft, a link intermedition may be instantly broken to arrest the ate said arm and power shaft, and a slldfeeding of fuel without mterrupting the able connect-1011 mtermedlztte said arm and movement of the power shaft.

power shaft consisting of a block seated in a lVILLIAM MCCLAVE. slot in the drive connection, side plates for Witnesses:

said block, a cam lock mounted between CHAS. H. VVELLES, J12,

said side plates, whereby the drive cennee- CHAS. H. l/VELLES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

